In short, Vincent
by LadyNightRunner
Summary: The opinions, preferences, and thoughts that make Vincent Valentine who he is. His observations on the world around him. Attack of the Yuffie. Marlene's good intentions. Just a peek into the secret life of a gunman.
1. Chapter 1

I've done another set. Vicnent this time, and I've got a 25-theme piece in the works from Vincent/Cid. Yes, I know I need to work on everything else I am, but I've hit something of a block. Will try harder.

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001: Savings box:

One thing he can do quite well with his prosthetic is carve. While it can be a real pain and generally only serves as a way to pass the time, the look on Marlene's face was worth every hour and splinter when she opened the little wooden treasure chest.

002: Lip cream:

From now on, Vincent will _always_ check his pockets before putting anything in the laundry. The embarrassment and general hilarity that ensued after Yuffie found his tube of WildBerry lip cream still gives him nightmares.

003: Photograph:

Tifa has only convinced him to pose alone for a photograph once. That was also the day he'd been forced to submit to Marlene and her new collection of hair accessories.

004: Band-Aid:

As if being stung by a bee wasn't bad enough, Vincent ended up being doctored by Tifa because he couldn't disappear fast enough. The Day-Glo green Band-Aid that accompanied her attention was just the final insult.

005: Oil:

He is not particularly good with mechanics. He proved this by managing to get a mouthful of oil when Cid asked for help doing the annual maintenance on the Bronco.

006: Traveling abroad:

Be a Turk. See the World. Ah, yes. However…be a member of a rebel group, and you'll see all the parts of the world the Turks can't control.

007: A group of shooting stars/falling stars:

When everything began after his awakening, he saw Cloud and his little gang as shooting stars, destined for a blaze of glory before burning out. These days, he sees them more like a single constellation, permanent and whole.

008: Ball game:

Every so often, there is nobody at 7th Heaven to watch the kids except Vincent. On these days, if the weather permits, Denzel and Vincent play basketball in the back yard. But _only_ when nobody else can watch them.

009: King:

Since Vincent arrived, Cloud's throne has been stolen. He is no longer the King of Depression and Dark Secrets. All Hail King Vincent.

010: Burn:

Carving he can do. Art projects he cannot. There have been several spectacular hot-glue burns to prove it.

011: Troublemaker:

He has never been a troublemaker. Chaos _could_ be, sure, but one is only a troublemaker if one gets caught, and Vincent is _never_ caught.

012: Vacuum cleaner:

All vacuum cleaners are out to get him. He's sure of it.

013: Kiss:

Mistletoe is an evil thing. It forces unsuspecting people to kiss in view of the entire living room while Yuffie squeals and snaps pictures.

014: Training:

Years of training have given him the ability to keep his balance under _almost_ any circumstances. The one situation he never prepared for, however, was a barrage of snowballs while he was hanging Christmas lights for Tifa. After he crawled out of the snowdrift, he wondered what he had done to deserve this.

015: Young leaves mark:

Vincent hates Laundry Day. He hates it even more in the spring, when the sticky pods that fall off the young leaves of several trees in the backyard can be found stuck to nearly every piece of clothing he folds.

016: Hypnosis: A sticker for new car drivers:

Okay. He hadn't driven in…a little over twenty years. So what? There was no reason for Cid to get him a sticker to put in the window whenever he drove.

017: The Duty of Siblings:

He knows that Denzel and Marlene aren't related, but they are the closest thing to siblings they will ever have. Therefore, he took some time to explain to Denzel that it is the duty of the oldest to protect his younger siblings. Denzel took it to heart.

018: Straight perm:

No ma'am, it isn't a perm. No, I'm afraid not. I don't have a hairdresser. I cut it when I- what? Ma'am, I'm male.

019: Rest one's head on a person's lap:

Vincent has never been one for physical contact. However…he sees nothing wrong with indulging in a little of it on the rare occasions when he gets hurt. He likes lying still with his head in someone's lap- it doesn't matter who- and having something to concentrate on while someone else patches him up.

020: Contract:

He has, at this point, made a sort of contract with Chaos. This pact essentially involves the level of annoyance and mental/verbal abuse either is allowed to use on the other. It has, so far, held up admirably.

021: Quiz:

Marlene likes to play 20 Questions. She taught it to Vincent, who took to it at once. He likes to use it on Cid, who hates to be quizzed when he's busy.

022: Emotion:

Long ago, he taught himself to show no emotion. These days, he allows some emotion, so long as he has no audience to his fits of nearly silent laughter when he actually takes the time to pay attention to Cid's bad jokes.

023: Castle in the sky:

As a baby-sitter on-call, Vincent has seen many animated movies. Castle in the Sky is not his favorite, but he feels that he can relate to the Guardians; being away from the place he belongs hurts.

024: Hay fever:

There is a very good reason Vincent refuses to have any contact with the outside world when the lilacs are blooming.

025: Pierce:

He refuses to get _any_ part of his body pierced. He has stabbed himself in a variety of places with his own hand, and has no desire to let someone else do the same, even if it is likely to hurt quite a bit less.

026: Body fat:

As the smallest male in the group, Cid was forced to spend the entire trip to the coast sitting on his fellow truck-mates. Vincent, being the biggest, played chair most of the way. Cid informed Vincent that he either has _the_ boniest lap in the history of mankind, or he has zero body fat. Possibly both. Vincent was not amused; Cid had been sitting on Cerberus.

027: Soap bubbles:

_There is a world within a soap bubble. It exists for the eternity of an instant, and is gone in the flash of a lifetime._

_-Vincent Valentine_

028: Secret:

Vincent has a secret love of sweets. It's not so secret anymore, since Cloud caught him with a bag of gummi worms and insisted that he share. When Vincent didn't, Cloud told Marlene, who promptly begged half a dozen of the sweets and gave two to Cloud.

029: Thing left behind:

There have been many times when he has left something behind. It is inevitable, with the life he has led. Sometimes he doesn't even realize it is gone, or has no idea how it went, like when he realized that he had somehow managed to lose his right sock somewhere in the middle of a festival in Wutai.

030: Blood:

After catching Vincent with untreated wounds under his cloak, Cloud accused him of wearing that particular color of cloak for the sole purpose of hiding his own blood.

031: Glasses:

Yes, he wears glasses for reading. Yes, they make him look like an intelligent cat. No, he does not appreciate this being pointed out. And yes, Cid, this kitty will scratch if you say 'here kitty kitty' one more time.

032: Homemade:

Vincent makes very good soups. He can also manage bread. He sometimes wonders why he is always volunteered for KP duty.

033: Punishment:

He absolutely refused to go see the new horror flick. As punishment, a very disappointed Chaos sang the theme song to Yuffie's favorite anime for two days straight. Vincent almost admitted himself to a mental institution.

034: 2-seater:

Three people + 2-seater plane awkward.

035: Memory loss:

On the rare occasions when someone gets Vincent to drink, he usually regrets it later. He has to do something about the horrid memories. Thus, he lives a life of contentment under the influence of self-induced memory loss.

036: Glasswork:

Vincent can spend hours watching a master glass blower at work.

037: Experiment:

When he has no visitors, Vincent experiments with new ammunition and targets.

038: Shell:

Yuffie often accuses him of hiding inside his cape the way a turtle hides inside its shell. She is right, but only when she is anywhere near him.

039: Playing House:

Marlene only asked Vincent to play house once. After that, she decided that prince and princess was much better, because Vincent makes an excellent horse, and his tea party skills are nil.

040: Rope:

Vincent can tie almost anything to anything with anything even remotely resembling rope.

041: The falling of cherry blossoms:

In spite of Yuffie's complaints of petals getting into everything, Vincent rather enjoys falling cherry blossoms.

042: Wing:

The burden of Chaos may be a difficult one to bear, but Vincent can do it. There is nothing like soaring on Chaos' wings, even when he is not controlling them.

043: Tactician:

As one of the most levelheaded members of the group, Vincent often plays mediator for his companions' frequent arguments. The position of tactician is not one he requested, but it fits him.

044: Coffee:

Vincent likes his coffee black. No sugar, no milk, and certainly no funny flavorings. That includes the caramel stuff that Tifa likes, and the raspberry abomination Yuffie adores.

045: Legend:

He never imagined that he would become part of the legend. Okay, maybe once or twice, but never did he see himself as one of the heroes.

046: Homecoming:

It has been a long trip. He steps inside, wanting nothing more than a hot bath and sleep. The stairs are quiet, as is the hallway. In his room, there is a set of pajamas and a note on the bed. _The bath is full, and there are clean towels out. Welcome home, Vincent._

_-Tifa and the kids_

047: Individual Lesson:

The one time he decided to accept Cloud's offer to teach him how to handle a sword (he doesn't know _what_ possessed him), he found himself flat on his back in a matter of moments. He also discovered that his individual lesson had an audience.

048: Ruggedness:

It is the ruggedness of the mountains that attracts him. He could go into them and be in a world where he is the intruder and the prey, and he could come out again with a new understanding of the human race.

049: Color:

The variations that color comes in never ceases to amaze him. Varied shades of a single color can hold meanings that are a world apart.

050: Candy:

When Halloween rolls around, even Vincent is willing to say 'trick-or-treat' if there is good candy involved.


	2. Chapter 2

Aaannndd...the other 50. Enjoy. Finals are almost, and I think I'll be able to write more when I'm not so stressed. Short works are easy at the moment, but long oes aren't. Sorry. Trying very hard.

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051: Dirt:

Vincent has nothing against getting dirty. In fact, he thinks it's rather fun, provided he has a reliable way of getting the dirt _off_ afterwards.

052: Jewel:

The colors he looks best in are generally classed under the heading 'jewel tones'. Yuffie says they're girly. Tifa refuses to comment. Cloud snickers any time the subject comes up. Vincent ignores them.

053: Melting chocolate:

One summer afternoon, Vincent was enjoying a casual stroll and an ice cream cone when he happened by Tseng and Elena. Both looked up. Hiding a smile, Vincent pretended not to see them and slowly licked a trail of melting chocolate ice cream off his hand. A quick peek over his wrist showed two nearly identical blushes. Ha. He still had it.

054: Miracle:

It is a miracle Vincent hasn't permanently silenced Yuffie. Not that he hasn't thought about it.

055: Pet:

Vincent does _not_ do pets. Cid _knew_ this when he brought in a pair of bedraggled kittens. Still…one night wasn't too much to ask, since it was raining and both the kittens and the pilot were soaked. He regretted it the next morning, when he was completely boxed in.

056: Chain:

So he refused to dress up in costume for the New Year's party. No big deal, right? Wrong. He ended up chained to a chair, wearing a pirate costume and having his hair and makeup done by Yuffie.

057: The Ability to Live:

When he first woke, up, he was sure that there was no way he could continue. After spending some time with Cloud and the others, though, he realized that he retained the ability to live, even after so long.

058: Sake (As in the alcohol):

Of all the drinks he has ever had, sake is his least favorite. It gives him a headache like no other, and is the _only_ thing that can upset his impeccable sense of balance.

059: Old money:

ShinRa is old money, a family that has had its fingers in the most profitable business of the time for as long as anyone can remember. Vincent is as wealthy as they, though his fortune is in memories. As far as he is concerned, there is no better treasure.

060: A silence:

When Vincent attempted to sneak out of the kitchen while wearing the results of a whipped cream explosion, a well-placed trip-wire (courtesy of Yuffie) sent him flying into the midst of a card game in the living room. The stunned silence that followed lasted for the length of time it took for the situation to sink in. Then they all began laughing.

061: Shyness:

It is not that Vincent has a chronic case of permanent shyness. He is not at all shy. He is simply vaguely anti-social and fond of peace and quiet, which he doesn't get when in the company of most people.

062: Time limit:

Vincent wishes he could impose a time limit on children's animated musical movies. Approximately fifteen minutes ought to do nicely.

063: Fortune-telling:

He does not believe in magic. He does not believe in mythological creatures. He has gotten his fortune read five times.

064: Rejection:

Yuffie really is something. No matter how many times Vincent politely turns down her invitations to parties, festivals, and other celebrations and gatherings, she shakes off every single rejection and asks again.

065: Calendar:

Vincent no longer measures time by a calendar. Instead, he keeps track of the years by birthdays, holidays, and memories of all the good times.

066: Learning by experience:

Vincent learned the hard way that poison ivy will get just about anyone, himself included, and there isn't much he can do about it except wait for it to go away.

067: Childhood friend:

When watching Tifa and Cloud argue, Vincent often feels grateful that he doesn't have any childhood friends to know all his goof-ups, personal disasters, embarrassing moments, and the like.

068: Smile:

Once, in response to Cid's insistence that 'ya hafta smile in a group photo, Vinny', Vincent put on his cheesiest school-photo smile. Cid never complained again.

069: Umbrella:

Vincent does not have anything against umbrellas. They are useful, both as temporary shelter and impromptu weapon, but he draws the line at a black one with little cartoon bats on it in red. He is _not_ a vampire, Yuffie.

070: Ice:

He used to think that ice was pretty. That was from a distance. Having been victim to a skating party hosted by Tifa, he now believes it to be one of the most evil substances on earth, and he still wonders who was first crazy enough to strap blades to their feet and skitter across a frozen pond.

071: Mark:

Vincent never misses his mark…unless he's throwing things at one of the three squirrels that have moved into the eaves directly outside his window.

072: Women's bathing suit:

Never again will Vincent allow Yuffie to get him so riled up that he accepts a dare. He doesn't like the beach to _begin_ with, but being there in a black and red bikini was the awful. The only thing to make it worse was the vicious sunburn he got to match it.

073: Flower language:

He has studied many things since he was woken, mostly for entertainment. One of the most interesting was the meaning of flowers. However…he regrets telling anyone, because Cid wants to know why he wants to speak flower.

074: Afro:

From now on, Vincent is never accepting a drink from Yuffie. She drugged the last one, and he woke up with his hair in a bunch of tight little curlers. When he managed to get them all off, he was left with a spectacular afro. Cid had to sit on him until he calmed down.

075: Oath:

After some discussion with everyone but Yuffie and Vincent, Tifa forced Vincent to swear, upon pain of Marlene make-over, that he would not make any attempt to end Yuffie's life, no matter how bad whatever she did to him this time turns out to be.

076: Magic:

_There is magic at work when a man comes home to two children who run to meet him at the door. It is even more magical when they run to meet that man when he is in no way related to them._

_-Vincent Valentine_

077: Trick:

Vincent likes to foil Cid's magic tricks by stealing whatever it is that he is making appear or disappear.

078: Earthquake:

Vincent has lived through three earthquakes. One was natural and almost killed him with falling rocks; the other two were man-made, and nearly killed him with falling comrades.

079: China dress:

He was not told that he'd been set up until Cloud offered him a blood-red Oriental dress and told him that it was what he was supposed to wear to his blind date.

080: Can be either "nut," "fruit," or "berry":

No, the color of his cloak is not 'berry red'. Therefore, he does not wear fruity clothes. Knowing how to repel these accusations seems to have gotten him a permanent classification as a nut.

081: Contact lens:

Vincent has lost count of the times he has been stopped on the street by people who want to know if that's his real eye color. Are you _sure_ they aren't contacts?

082: "Why?" (Or "What for?"):

One rainy afternoon when Cid wanted someone to keep him company while he worked on the Bronco, Vincent calmly eyed him over the top of his book and said "Why?" Cid flatly informed him that if he was going to insist on sitting around being decorative, he could at least do it where he would be seen.

083: Black tea:

Vincent likes his tea black. No milk, no sugar, and certainly no salt, pepper, hot sauce, or unidentified substances. Thank you, Yuffie.

084: World of Dreams:

Vincent's world of dreams is inhabited by an intelligent demon named Chaos who has an unfortunately evil sense of humor.

085: Study orchids:

The number of species of orchid in existence amazes him, but the fact that Yuffie knows the name of each and every one never ceases to astound.

086: Holiday:

Every winter Vincent holes up in his room and wishes he could hibernate through the holidays.

087: Virtual image:

It was only a virtual image, but the computerized Lucrecia broke his heart anyway.

088: Clock:

The alarm clock beside Vincent's bed is silver, old-fashioned, and a sure-fire way to jump-start the sleepiest of pilots.

089: Fallen Angel:

He sees Sephiroth as a fallen angel: If Sephiroth figures out what it is that he did to fall, maybe he will rise again.

090: Word:

Vincent's word is his bond…unless he promised not to booby-trap Yuffie's room, in which case he never made such a promise.

091: Crown:

For Marlene's birthday, Vincent agreed to remove his cloak and wear a silver crown. As such, he was Marlene's prince. She knighted him with a fluffy pink wand and declared him Sir Vinny, a name that Yuffie and Cid have yet to forget.

092: Person of fiction:

Chaos is not a person of fiction, though he doesn't mind being one of legend when Denzel chooses him for a creative-writing project.

093: Indirectly:

Vincent is indirectly responsible for at least three different mud-puddles that Yuffie has fallen into. He has a gift for influencing a hose to be left running, or the mop-water to be dumped in a certain place, and he knows that revenge is sweet.

094: Good-bye:

The last time he said goodbye to Midgar and headed off to wander, he was presented with a stuffed wolf named Scruff and a slingshot. Since then, both have found a permanent home inside his cloak, and he is sure to return to 7th Heaven with tales of Scruff's adventures with only a slingshot to protect him.

095: Assistance:

No, he is not stuck between the bed and the wall. He would never have leaned down there to retrieve a gummi bear, and even if he had, he wouldn't have lost his balance and slid down here. Yes, he could use some assistance.

096: Sunlight streaming through the trees:

_The most innocent things in life are the most exquisite._

_-Vincent Valentine_

097: The common cold:

The great Vincent Valentine has been reduced to fending off his enemies with pillows, boots, and three stuffed animals that found their way into the room. His enemies are: Cid with tea, Tifa with cough syrup, Marlene with more stuffed animals, and Yuffie with a camera.

098: Cloud:

Cloud can be depressing, vague, a loner, and very irritating, but Vincent can't imagine a world without the gutsy blonde with the black motorcycle.

099: Voice:

On a visit to Cid in Rocket Town, Vincent found out that Cid has an incredible singing voice. Cid refuses to admit it, but Vincent has proof; he recorded Cid's shower singing on his phone.

100: 365 days:

The only real consistency in Vincent's life is that he can always find someone if he ever needs them. This is true 24/7/365.


End file.
